View Full Version : Some Of My Projects
Here is a pic of a fence I built to keep the kids away from the stone wall and falling.:) Please ask my wife to finish painting it. I'm a welder not a painter.:D
Here is the gate on that fence. I'm pretty proud of this one. It was my first actual project.
Here is my mailbox that I made. It is primarily 4" square tube with the ornamental pieces added on. I have made several of these for wedding gifts now.
By the way, If my sign maker ever gets it done, There will be a name plate hanging over the mailbox.
Here is an old gas pump that I just acquired yesterday. I have my work cut out for me on this one. I do these old things for a hobby. I will be (over the next month or so) welding, patching, puttying, priming, straightening, painting, and reassembling this old girl. I promise to show you the finished product when I am done.
Arbo,I really like your fence and gate, you have a right to be proud of that job , Good work.
WES
Hunter991
09-23-2002, 10:05 PM
Great mail box post. Any suggestions on how to form a piece of around 1/4 mild steel plate into a mail box? I have had lots of boxes smashed. I am tired of spending the money on boxes that don't stay up long. I am thinking of around a 4" square post with a steel box if anyone can come up with some ideas.
Thanks again.
Trent Combs
09-23-2002, 10:43 PM
The box itself has to be approved - otherwise, the USPS won't deliver to it. However, that doesn't prevent enclosing an approved box in a protective casing, as long as you don't interfere with door access.
Mark Whiddon
09-23-2002, 10:57 PM
The postal system in this area (north texas) is pretty good about letting you use non store bought boxes. I would assume you would either take a plan or the actual mailbox up to your local post office and show it to them. Here as long as you replace the existing mailbox in the same location and height, you are ok. They do want an enclosed box that can be opened and shut with a flag of some kind on it. The only problem I can forsee is if you are having that much vandalism, them may just wrap a chain around it and jerk it out of the ground.
Hunter991
09-23-2002, 11:11 PM
Well I have heard it happen several times but by the time I get dressed they are gone, normally just somebody jumping out, hitting it and leaving. In the time it would take someone to hook a chain to it I could get dressed and pull my police car out of the garage and ruin their night.
I think I am just trying to figure out how to form a solid steel box, and make it look right. What sort of form could I use to to get the curve in the top and keep the steel to smooth and "mail box looking"??:D
Rocky D
09-24-2002, 03:13 AM
If I was driven to make a bullet proof mail box, I guess I'd take 1" flat bar and weld strips together to make the curve around the top. it'd be a lot of welding, but hey...we're weldors, are'nt we? :)
Hunter991
A quick solution for making the arched top could be to cut a short section of probably 8" pipe in half length wise and then attach this to some flat bars for your straight sides .
Originally posted by Arbo
By the way, If my sign maker ever gets it done, There will be a name plate hanging over the mailbox.
Did you make the nice floral designs under your mailbox? If not, where did you get them? I'd like to make a box very similar to yours, but don't have the skill to make that pretty stuff under the box. Thanks in advance.
Corm
Hobart Expert Rock
09-24-2002, 07:45 AM
HI GUYS.......CUTTING SOME PIPE TO MAKE THE TOP WOULD WORK, OR WHERE YOU PURCHASE YOUR STEEL SOME OF THESE FOLKS HAVE ROLLERS THAT WILL BEND ARCH'S IN THE METAL..... WE LINE DUMP TRAILERS WITH THEM ALL THE TIME....... TELL THEM WHAT THE ARC (THE INSIDE CURVE OF A DUMP TRAILER IS) AND RISE IS THEY WILL FORM AND ROLL IT FOR YOU........ OF COURSE THEY CHARGE FOR IT.......... I GUESS YOU COULD CUT SOME PIPE WITH A PLASMA CUTTER AND GET A NICE STRAIGHT LINE ALSO...... WOULD BE THE OTHER WAY TO GO...... WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME KID SMASH A 1/4 INCH STEEL MAIL BOX WITH AN ALUMINUM BAT...............;) ........BE SAFE OUT THERE......ROCK
SSCOTT@MILLERWELDS.COM
Hobart Expert Rock
09-24-2002, 07:49 AM
HI ARBO........I LIKE THE FENCE AND GATE.......... HOW DEEP IS THE STONE WALL THE FENCE IS SETTING ON,........ AND OH YES PUT YOUR WIFE ON I'LL TELL HER TO FINISH PAINTING THE FENCE. ......... OF COURSE WIFE AT YOUR CONVENIENCE...... THANK YOU.............. BE HAPPY....... DOMESTIC BLISS ISN'T IT GREAT..........ROCK........... SSCOTT@MILLERWELDS.COM
It is cast iron. They are available from King Ornamental Metals. Phone number is (214)388-9834. If you call them, they will send a free catalog. Good luck.King Metals Web Site (http://www.kingmetals.com/)
Rock,
The wall varies in height from about five feet at the highest to about 18 inches at the lowest. It is a ditch that runs through my yard to carry water runoff from the surrounding fields. The bottom is also lined with stone. I remember playing around there when I was a young lad. Now I have a six year old and a four year old and my protective nature is kicking in.
Arbo
My neighbor has lost two mailboxes and two cars to folks who don't make the curve in our street. His is now in a brick and mortor monument. We did nail the last guy, DUI and hit and run.
Approved mailboxes come in many shapes and sizes. I once had one hex shaped: flat top and bottom and angled out sides. That could be enclosed in six flat steel plates.
Thanks for the orniment source, and very nice gate!
Royal Fe
09-24-2002, 10:15 AM
That is a very elegant gate. I like the lines. It draws your eyes to the decorative iron not the structure of the gate/fence. What size material did you use for the fence and gate? I could see the hinges but couldn’t tell what type of latch you used; can you help us out with that? Very nice work!
The posts with the ***** on top are 2.5" square tube. It slipped down over old t-bar posts that were mouned in the stone wall long before I was around. There used to be a wooden cattle fence there. I drilled four 1/2" holes through the one side of my tube and welded to the t-bar through those holes. Grind the weld smooth...oula! The frame of the gate and the horizontals on the fence are 1" square tube. The verticals are 1/2" square tube. On the gate are hand forged "baskets" in the middle of the verticals. (I didn't make the baskets, I bought them) The fence verticals are toped with cast iron spear point tops. The latch one the gate is made from 10 guage sheet metal and 1/4" round stock. I will do up some drawings and scan them in for you. It wasn't difficult to make, I just wanted the challenge of making my own.
Arbo
Here is the drawing of the gate latch that I promised...I also use a ballpeen hammer on the sheet metal to give the whole thing the hand forged look.